subject: ITIL Certification - Bridging the Gap Between the V2 and V3 Libraries [print this page] ITIL Certification - Bridging the Gap Between the V2 and V3 Libraries
Eventually, the ITIL management system version 2 will be withdrawn. Concomitant with the withdrawal, technical support for version 2 will no longer be available.
That doesn't mean that the people who studied and earned certificates for version 2 will be out in the cold. The structure of version 3 is similar to version 2. They differ only in version 3 having added more training modules for practitioners. In addition, another rank in the ITIL hierarchy has been added.
Training for version 3 is done in five levels.
The first level, like version 2, is the foundation training.
The second level corresponds to the practitioner level of version 2. It differs from version 2 in that it only has two courses (version two has three).
However, one of its two courses contains all the three courses of version 2 plus a training for managing resources. This training includes accounting for resources, distributing resources, securing and minimizing the risk for resources.
The second course of version 3 is entirely devoted to a topic that was implied under the 'release and control' practitioner module of version 2. It is all about setting up and managing the communications technology infrastructure of the organization.
Apparently, the authors of the ITIL see communications infrastructure growing into a major component of the systems of tomorrow. Rather than wait for that to happen, they recommend training and preparing people this early. The trainings included here are designing the infrastructure, teaching people how to use it, implementing the communications system, troubleshooting the system and aligning it to the purposes of the business.
Luckily for those who already have certificates for version 2, there are bridge courses in version 3 which will allow version 2 certificate holders to qualify for the corresponding position in 3. By taking up these bridge courses, a participant can qualify for job openings for version 3.
On the other hand, people who have taken up the practitioner modules of version 2 can simply move on to the managerial level of version 3. They may have earned credits from their version 2 training and those credits alone can get them promoted.
On the other hand, all young people aspiring for an ITIL position in the future, should get version 3. One obvious reason is that the second version will be withdrawn by its creator soon. People still using version 2 by then will have to upgrade. Otherwise they will no longer enjoy the technical support of the people who created ITIL.
